Matt Cardona Relinquishes ACW World Championship Following WWE Return

Matt Cardona has vacated the ACW World Championship. Cardona was set to defend the title against Mike Santana at ACW’s Poughkeepsie Rumble tonight at the MJN Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Unfortunately, as the event started, Cardona appeared on the big screen and shared that he is vacating the title. This comes after he returned to WWE as a signed talent after over five years on last night’s SmackDown.

“I’m sure you guys saw last night; I made a return to SmackDown. I am back with WWE. That means I can no longer compete tonight. That means I can no longer be the ACW World Champion. I am very proud to have been the ACW World Champion. I love ACW, one of the greatest independent promotions out there with such a great roster, and I know that somebody is gonna step up to give you great fans a new ACW World Champion. See you, guys, down the road.”

Matt Cardona just announced he is no longer able to compete at ACW tonight and has relinquished the ACW World Championship.

A new champion will be crowned tonight. pic.twitter.com/tC8Fa3ZZyn

— 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐕𝐞𝐧 (@WrestlingCovers) January 3, 2026

Matt Cardona captured the ACW World Title in October 2025, when he defeated Richard Holliday, Nic Nemeth, and Matt Riddle in a four-way elimination match at ACW Mischief Night. The WWE Superstar currently holds three more titles: the QPW Middle East Championship, the WSW World Heavyweight Title, and the JCW Lunacy World Heavyweight Championship.